Martin Smith originally made a name for himself producing some of the early vintages at the Vilafonte Winery in Paarl before starting his own winery project under the Paserene label. After taking on an investor, a new winery and tasting room were completed in Franschhoek in late 2017. 

Known for his skill in crafting impressive Cabernet Sauvignon based reds, Martin has also latterly cultivated a top reputation for some very accomplished Chardonnays. The 2022 vintage in South Africa produced a smaller grape crop than the previous year, but the quality of the wines, particularly reds, is considered to be high quality. The cool weather during the growing season led to slower ripening and striking flavour and colour development. While Stellenbosch generally had a larger crop, other regions experienced challenges like disease pressure and sunburn. The harvest started later than usual due to the cooler season yet the results are vastly different to the taut, crisp, fresh linear styles of 2021. But 2022 offers ripeness, elegance, fleshy and an accessible concentration much like the 2020 vintage.

Paserene Midnight Cabernet Sauvignon 2022, WO Western Cape, 13% Abv.

This is an impressive Cabernet Sauvignon from this fleshy, ripe vintage. With an invitingly deep ruby red colour in the glass, the aromatics are packed full of perfumed violets, black raspberry jam on warm brown toast, salty black currants, and red cherries over notes of black berry herbal tea, granitic and graphite minerality. Medium bodied, the palate shows a classical 2022 styling with fine grained silky tannins, a weightless red and black berry fruit concentration but also a lovely fleshy depth and purity in the mouth. This is a beautifully polished, soft, supple accessible Cabernet Sauvignon that is perfect for drinking on release but will reward a further 5 to 8 years of ageing. 

(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)